View full sizeLa Salle coach Dr. John Giannini pleads to his team during Friday's Atlantic 10 quarterfinal loss to Butler.Associated Press Photo

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – La Salle University men’s basketball coach Dr. John Giannini may have an opportunity to coach in an NCAA Tournament for the first time since leading Rowan to the Division III national title in 1996 and coach in the Big Dance for the first time ever.

The Explorers could still find themselves in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1992.

So Giannini didn’t downplay how he would spend these next few days, watching fellow bubble teams play in their respective conference tournaments after the fourth-seeded Explorers were bounced from the Atlantic 10 Tournament by No. 5 Butler, 69-58, on Friday in Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. The Bulldogs advanced to face top-seeded Saint Louis in the semifinals.

“It’s interesting,” said Giannini. “One of the schools in our situation is Boise State, and I think their coach said, when he was in this situation once before he watched every school and made himself nuts and he’s not going to do it again.

“For the record, I’m going to make myself nuts.”

La Salle finished its season 21-9 overall with wins over Villanova, Butler and Virginia Commonwealth and had an RPI of 38 coming into Friday’s game. It also fell to Central Connecticut State and finished the year on a two-game losing streak.

“I don’t think I have to (defend our resume),” said Giannini. “I don’t even think I should. Our record speaks for itself. Our standing, finishing (tied for) third in our great league speaks for itself. I think we have some high-level wins that speak for themselves.

“But there’s some good teams out there. I have no idea how we compare to these other teams. I think we’ve been in the discussion. The crazy thing is, if you talked to people who studied us, we’ve been in pretty much all year. It would be pretty sad to lose it here in the last two, three days.”

La Salle had a chance to seal its selection Friday but a tough shooting day from standout Ramon Galloway and its usual problem inside – particularly without injured big man Steve Zack – kept the Explorers from grabbing the win that would have put them over the top.

Galloway shot 1-for-10 from the field, missing all seven of his three-point attempts. He had a chance to cut the deficit to four late in the second half with a pair of free throws, but he missed the front end of a one-and-one, Butler’s Rotnei Clarke hit a three to push the lead to nine and the game was over.

Sam Mills also struggled, going 1-for-8. Point guard Tyreek Duren had 16 points but no assists, Tyrone Garland contributed 17 and Jerrell Wright had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Explorers, who were out-rebounded, 41-23.

“We lost to a very good team,” said Giannini. “Their defense had a lot to do with our frustrations. Their size and rebounding had a lot to do with our frustrations. (But) I don’t think we played very well.”

One person who backed the Explorers’ candidacy as an at-large team was Butler coach Brad Stevens, whose team will hear its name called on Sunday night.

“I thought Wright played well in there, and I absolutely love Duren, I think he’s a great point guard,” said Stevens. “I certainly hope they end up making the NCAA Tournament because they would be a hard matchup.”

And so the Explorers will sit and watch their fate play out over the next few days and see what happens Sunday night – if they snap a 21-year NCAA drought or go back to the NIT for a second straight year.

“I don’t want to say we’re nervous,” said Duren. “We’re depending on how other teams do, but I think we belong in the NCAA Tournament. Any way you look at it, this isn’t our last game.”